Frame and rack for floral display



May 31, 1938. I H. MENDEL 2,119,237

FRAME AND RACK FOR FLORAL DISPLAY Filed Sept. 6, 1935 /0 I n '/N1//v7-0;?

drro/wvsy Patented May 31, 1938 UNlTED STATES PATENT oFFmE 5 Claims My invention more particularly relates to a rack and frame used by undertakers and funeral directors at funerals for the support and display of flowers.

Undertakers and funeral directors commonly employ separate stands on which suitable receptacles containing flowers are placed. A comparatively large number of such stands are required for the usual funeral and are quite expensive.

Furthermore, they are bulky, and it requires a considerable time to transport and arrange the stands.

One of the objects of my invention is a rack for the support of flowers or the like which is 15 made up of a plurality of frames standardized as to form and size which may readily be connected together, and which are at the same time capable of being built up quickly and easily into various forms to provide supports for various 20 forms of. floral designs to meet the requirements and tastes of different persons.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a floral display rack which is compact and which can easily be transported.

25 Other objects of my invention will appear in the specification and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

My invention will best be understood by reference to the accompanying drawing in which I 30 have illustrated a preferred embodiment thereof and in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one of the frames from which the rack is built up;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating two adjacent frames connected together;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation view illustrating a supporting member for a floral piece secured to i one of the cross bars of the frame;

Fig. 4 is a front View of a portion of a rack and 40 illustrating the manner in which an upright rack is built from a horizontal frame, and

Fig. 5 is a front view on a smaller scale illustrating a rack built up from frames in the form of a cross. 45 Like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the drawing.

Referring to the drawing, l indicates, generally, a frame from which the rack is built and which comprises, in the embodiment illustrated, two longitudinally extending bars ll held in spaced parallel relation by suitable means which are here shown as cross bars l2 which may advantageously be welded at their ends to the bars ll thereby forming a frame preferably generally 55 rectangular in form and which is sufficiently stiff for the purpose intended. Members, preferably in the form of spikes l3 for supporting floral pieces, are welded or otherwise secured to the cross bars and extend outside of the plane of the frame as illustrated in order that a desired floral 5 piece maybe supported thereon.

The bars II are preferably of larger size than the cross bars I2. I find in practice that the cross bars it may advantageously be formed of No. 4 gauge metal bars while the cross bars l2 may be formed of No. '7 gauge wire.

It will be understood, however, that sizes of rods or wires appropriate for my invention are mentioned by way of example and not as limitations, as spaced bars and cross bars of. any desired size may, of course, be used.

The ends of the longitudinally extending bars l l are preferably free at one end of the frame as at Ill, and the opposite end of the frame is provided with a set of loops or rings i l shown as four in number, which are disposed at substantially right angles to the bars II, and are of a size adapted to receive the free ends ll! of the bars II. The ends of. the bars ll may advantageously be bent to form loops or substantially annular members l4| at the extreme ends of the bars it while the other two loops M2 may be welded to the respective bars. The said end of the frame is also provided with a second set of loops or substantially annular members 15 which are preferably welded to the bars II and are disposed parallel thereto and at right angles to the rings I4. While I have shown the members MI and I42 as annular in form or substantially so, it will be understood that a loop or member the arc of which is greater than a semicircle would retain the bars in position and when I refer in the claims to substantially annular members I intend to cover the foregoing construction. Furthermore, means other than substantially annular members could be used for securing said frames in spaced relation.

In order to build up an upright elongated rack such as would be used in forming a rack in the shape of the capital letter I, the free ends Ill 45 of a first frame are inserted through the rings MI and M2 of a second frame. The two frames are secured together by a hook [6 which is pivoted to an eye H which is preferably welded to the end cross bar l2 of the said first frame and which engages the end cross bar of the second frame. A longitudinally extending upright rack of any desired length may similarly be built up by the addition of other frames in the same manner and as indicated generally at A in Fig. 5.

'It is also desirable at times to extend the rack laterally from the upright portion as in the case of a rack in the form of a cross as illustrated in Fig. 5, or to form a rack in the general form of an inverted U, as may be the case where it is desired to provide banks of flowers at the back and at the ends of a casket. If, for example, a, rack in the form of a cross is desired, an upright rack of. the desired height may be built up in the manner already described, and then at the desired height a cross arm is built. For this purpose the free ends I l l of a frame are inserted through the loops l at the desired height, and at one side of the upright section A, and the free ends of another frame are similarly inserted through the same loops from the opposite side of the section A it being noted that the loops M are of sufficient size to accommodate the free ends of two frames. In other words, a given loop is large enough to receive two free ends. In the embodiment of my invention illustrated in Fig. 5, the longitudinally extending section A includes three frames while the cross section B comprises two frames, one at either side of the section A. The free ends of the lowermost frame of the section A constitute the support for the rack.

In building up racks of the foregoing character, all of the frames are of the same construction, and no additional parts are required. The frames as thus constructed, however, do not lend themselves to building downward from the cross section made up in the foregoing manner. In order to build up a rack which is built downward from the ends of the cross section, I provide additional splice bars Ill as best illustrated in Fig. 4, which are of a length somewhat greater than twice the distance between two spaced bars H, and which are provided at their intermediate portions with cross members 3 which may conveniently be welded to the bars ill and which, when inserted in the loops l5 engage the end loops in the manner illustrated in Fig. 4 and serve to limit the inward movement thereof. The loops H! at one end of another frame may be received on the free ends thus provided and which, in turn, provides free ends at its opposite end, and when the form has been built up laterally to the desired extent, the loops [5 of another frame are threaded over the laterally extending free ends from which a second upright section may be built downwardly in the manner already described, and which would be the case of a rack of an inverted U form, and from which the upright section may also be built upwardly in a manner which has also already been described and as would be the case in building a rack of the form of the capital letter H.

While I have described my invention in its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the words which I have used are words of description and not of limitation. Hence, changes within the purview of the appended claims may be made without departing from the true scope and spirit of my invention in its broader aspects.

What I claim is:

l. A frame for a floral display rack comprising longitudinally extending bars, means for securing said bars in spaced relation, the ends of said bars being free at one end, the'other end of said frame being provided with loops disposed substantially parallel to said bars and spaced to receive the free ends of the bars of a similar complementary frame.

2. A frame for a floral display rack comprising longitudinally extending bars, means for securing said bars in spaced relation, the ends of said bars being free at one end, the other end of said frame being provided with loops some of which are disposed substantially at right angles to said bars and others of which are substantially parallel thereto, and both groups of which are spaced to receive the free ends of a similar complementary frame.

3. A frame for a floral display rack or the like comprising longitudinally extending bars, means securing said bars in spaced relation, said bars being free at one end, the other end of said frame being provided with loops some of which are disposed at substantially right angles to said bars and others of which are substantially parallel thereto and both groups of which are spaced and adapted to receive the free ends of the bars of a similar complementary frame, and a splice bar free at each end and adapted to be received in said members which are substantially parallel to the bars of a given frame.

4. In a frame for a floral display rack or the like comprising longitudinally extending bars, cross bars connecting said longitudinally extending bars to form a frame, the ends of said bars being free at one end, the other end of said frame being provided with spaced bar receiving members provided with openings the axis through. which is substantially parallel to said bars, said members being. engageable with the cross bar of a complementary frame and serving to limit the movement thereof, and a splice bar free at each end and adapted to be received in said members which are substantially parallel to the bars of a given frame, said splice bar being provided at an intermediate portion with a stop member engageable with an annular member in which it is received for limiting the movement of said splice bar.

5. A frame for a floral display rack comprising longitudinally extending bars, means for securing said bars in spaced relation, said bars being free at one end, the other end of said frame being provided with members having through openings extending transversely of said frame and spaced to receive the free ends of the bars of a similar complementary frame whereby a cross frame may be detachably supported on said first mentioned frame.

HERMAN MENDEL.

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